Movable simulated bowling pin support and latch therefor



June 10, 1952 A. DURANT ETAL MOVABLE SIMULATED BOWLING PIN SUPPORT AND LATCH THEREFOR Filed April 22 1950 Patented June 10, 1952 MOVABLE SIMULATED BOWLING PIN SUPPORT AND LATCH THEREFOR Lyndon A. Durant and Melvin J. Binks, Chicago, Ill., assignors to Republic Patent Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application April 22, 1950, Serial No. 157,552

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a movable simulated bowling pin support and latch therefor in which the bowling pin is supported in vertical position and when released is movable by a spring means from such position to a horizontal position. As such, the object of this invention is to provide a device of this character which will be simple in construction and economical in manufacture.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood by ref erence to the accompanying drawings showing the preferred form of construction, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of .the bowling pin latch and supporting means;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the same showing the same mounted upon a supporting panel; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail view showing the pin positioned in a horizontal position with respect to a supporting panel.

The several objects of this invention are accomplished by the preferred form of construction which comprises a rod III formed of substantially rigid material. Secured to one end of this rod as at II is a simulated bowling pin I2. Intermediate its opposite end portions the rod III is bent as at I3 to provide spaced parallelly extending sections I4 and I6. The section I4 is journaled in a bearing I5. The section I6 terminates into a return extension I! of the rod I0. This return extension I! provides a loop l8 to which is attached as at I9 one end of a spring 20. The opposite end portion of this spring 20 is connected as at 2| to a suppo t panel 22. The bearing I is formed as an interal part of a mounting plate 23 secured as at 24 to the panel 22. This plate 23 has an upwardly extending portion 25 supporting an electromagnetic coil 26.

A plate 27 is connected to the portion 25 and extends parallel with respect to one side of the coil 26 to pivotally support an armature 28 with respect to the core 29 of the coil 26. This armature 28 is pivoted away from the coil by means of a spring 30. The armature 28 provides at its lower end portion a latch plate 3| adapted to have latched engagement with the section It provided by the rod ID.

The simulated bowling pin I2 is maintained in a vertical position as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 by reason of latched engagement between the section SI 2 and the latch bar I6. When the coil 26 is energized'and the armature 28 attracted to the core thereof the latch plate 3| will move from latched engagement with respect to the section I6 therey releasin the rod II] for pivotal movement under the action of the spring 20. This pivotal movement of the rod III by the spring 20 will dispose the simulated pin in a horizontal plane beneath the supporting panel 22. To cushion the engagement between the pin I2 and the panel 22 a cushion pad 32 is provided. This cushion pad is carried by a plate 33 connected as at 34 to the panel 22.

A suitable mechanism may be provided for returning the pin to its vertical position. In this particular instance, we have provided a reset bar 35 slidably supported by a bracket 36 beneath the panel 22 and having a cross bar 31 which is adapted to engage the bent portion I3 of the rod Ill. The arrangement is such that when the reset bar 35 is moved to the left as shown in Fi 3 the cross bar 31 will engage the portion I3 and pivot the rod I0 clockwise as viewed in Fig. 3 to dispose the pin I2 in a vertical plane with the section I6 in latched position with respect to the latch plate 3|. Any suitable means may be employed for moving this reset bar and any approved power circuit may be employed to energize the coil 26.

The invention may be employed in any type of bowling game and any number of simulated pins may be employed. It will be apparent that the mechanism for moving the pin to its vertical plane and for latching the same in such position is a simple and economical structure as is the arrangement for releasing the pin and for m i the same back to a horizontal position.

While we have illustrated and described the preferred form of construction for carrying our invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. We, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail ourselves of such variations and modifications as come within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

A device of the class described comprising a substantially L-shaped mountin late having one leg portion mounted on a fixed support, an electromagnetic coil including an armature mounted on the other leg of said plate, a latch plate providedby the armature, a bearing pro- 3 vided by said one leg, a rod member having one end portion bent to provide substantially parallelly extending spaced apart sections, one of said sections being journaled in said bearing, the other of said sections being adapted to have latched en gement with the latch plate while said electromagnetic coil is deenergized, a simulated bowling pin carried by the rod member at one end thereof, spring means connected to the opposite end portion of the rod memberand to said support for pivoting the rod member in a direction to dispose said other section from latched engagement with the latch plate, and

means for pivotally moving said rod member in 7 an opposite direction against the action of said spring means to dispose said other section in latched engagement with the latch plate.

LYNDON A. DURANT. MELVIN J. BDIKS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 559,352 Becker May 5, 1896 2,009,266 James July 23, 1932 2,452,288 Blando Dec. 26, 1948 

